Garment hanger supporting means



April 26, 1949. J. TUSAY 2,468,526

GARMENT HANGER SUPPORTING MEANS Filed 001;. 9, 1947 awe/Mom Patented Apr. 26, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GARMENT HANGER SUPPORTING MEANS John Tusay, Highland Park, Mich.

Application October 9, 1947, Serial No. 778,780

4 Claims. 1

This invention relates to means for supporting garment hangers in a clothes closet, or the like, and is especially directed to such means designed to conserve the limited space of a clothes closet by providing supports for a plurality of hangers whereby said hangers and their supported garments occupy less space in said closet than they would normally occupy if placed upon a standard horizontal rod, as is customary.

It is an object of this invention to provide such a device that will support a plurality of hangers efiiciently and in a fixed position without danger of said hangers swinging freely about.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a device that can be economically manufactured from readily available materials and at very low cost.

It is a further object of this invention to provide, in such a device, a garment hanger of the wire type so designed as to support a coat, or the like, without objectionable creasing oi the shoulders thereof.

Further objects and advantages will be apparent as the description proceeds in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a device constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention and showing said device in place on a standard hanger rod.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary detailed view of a portion of the device of Figure 1 illustrating a modified mode of construction, and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary detailed View of a further modified manner of practicing the invention.

The device shown in Figure 1 consists of a continuous length of wire which may be round or any other desired shape in section and may be of steel, aiuminum, iron, or any other suitable material. The length of wire is bent to the configuration shown to provide, at its ends, a pair of spaced, Jarallel, oppositely facing hook elements l having their lower portions extending inwardly and then downwardly in contact with each other, as at 2 to form a narrow neck. The narrow neck portion constituted by the portions 2 of the wire is embraced by a clip 3 which may be folded from sheet metal, or the like, and retains the parallel portions 2 in engagement with each other. The downward extending portions 2 terminate in horizontal strands 4 that extend outwardly therefrom and are formed at their lateral extremities with loop elements 5. The strands then continue downwardly and inwardly to a second pair of loop elements 6 and then again downwardly and inwardly to a third pair of loop elements I. It will be noted that the pairs of loop elements 5, 6 and l are arranged in two downwardly converging rows and that all of the loop elements lie generally in a plane normal to the plane occupied by each of the hook elements I whereby the supporting loops 5, 6 and 1 will hang generally in a plane including the supporting rod 8.

Below the loop elements 1 the strands are brought together and extended downwardly in parallel relation and in contact with each other as at 9 to form a second narrow neck portion. This narrow neck portion is likewise surrounded by a clip 19 folded from sheet metal, or the like, to be reenforced thereby and held in proper position. From the narrow neck portion defined by the portions 9 the strands extend downwardly and outwardly at ll and each strand is then looped to form a helical strand portion [2 at the lateral extremities of the strands H and extend inwardly therefrom in a single strand [3. It is to be noted that each of the helical portions l2 has its convolutions spaced apart along the axis of the helix which axis extends generally in a horizontal direction. The loops I2 may, if desired, be employed to support additional hangers. From this construction it will be seen that the loop portions l2 constitute a generally bulbous structure at the ends of the garment hanger and that the lower strand l3 thereof is laterally spaced from the plane defined by the strand portions II. This construction provides a garment hanger having a neck portion at 9, collar supporting portions at ll and shoulder supporting portions at l2. The shoulder supporting portions l2 being somewhat bulbous in shape provide a desirable type of support for the shoulders of the garment whereby to prevent creases from forming in the shoulders of the garment and the lower strand [3, being laterally spaced from the plane of the strands I, will cooperate to hold the garment in a more nearly natural position than it will assume when placed on a conventional wire type hanger. The strand [3 also provides a support upon which additional garments may be hung.

It is to be noted that the plane defined by the strands II, which may be referred to generally as the plane of the hanger, extends normal to the plane defined by the supporting loops 5, 6 and 1.

The supporting loops 5, 6 and l are provided as supports for a plurality of garment hangers, one of which is shown in dotted outline at M.

The hangers M will be supported on the device by having their hooked portions engaged in the loop elements 5, 6 and 1 and it is to be noted that the hangers M will hang parallel to each other and parallel to the garment hanger consisting of the portions ll, I2 and I3. By arranging the supporting loops 5, 6 and I in the manner described, it will be seen that adjacent hangers M will be laterally spaced from each other and also vertically spaced from each other. This manner of spacing the hangers I4 enables a greater number of garments to be hung in a given space since the bulky portion of each garment, that is the shoulders, is vertically displaced from the corresponding portion of the next adjacent garment and thus the garments may be arranged closer together without mutual wrinkling than would be possible with a plurality of hangers arranged on the conventional supporting rod 8.

The hooked elements l, described above, being late-rally spaced in a direction parallel to the plane defined by the loop elements 5, 6 and l afford a stable support for the entire device and are so spaced apart that if a. group of hangers l4 and garments carried thereby are placed all on one side of the hanger lll2l3, the device will still not be out of static balance but the load will be carried by both hook elements i to provide a statically stable arrangement. The hook elements I, the loop elements 5, 6 and i, and the garment hanger II are all symmetrically arranged about a vertical center line whereby when the device is symmetrically loaded each of the hook elements I will bear an equal portion of the load. By providing the spaced hook elements I, applicant has provided not only a stable form of supporting means but one in which there will be no tendency of the device to oscillate or swing about a vertical axis, as will be readily apparent.

As shown, the hook elements I face in opposite directions. This is the preferred construction since it enables the entire assembly to swing about the axis of the rod 8 without danger of both hooks slipping therefrom and it further provides for easy placement of the device on the rod 8. The latter is accomplished by merely placing the device with the rod 8 extending anywhere between the two hook elements and moving the device upwardly and rotating it until each hook element is in position over the rod 8 and then lowering the device vertically downwardly until it is supported upon the rod. It is to be understood, however, that the invention contemplates such a space saver wherein each of the hook ele ments faces the same direction as the other.

Figure 2 illustrates a modified form of construction of the narrow neck portion joining the supporting loops 1 and the hanger H. In this form of construction the clip element It is elimin'ated and the portions 9' instead of being arranged parallel to each other, as shown in Figure 1, are twisted about each other as clearly shown in Figure 2. It is to be understood that this type of construction may be employed at the narrow neck portion immediately below the hook elements I, if desired, in addition to the portion shown by Figure 2.

As shown in Figure 3, the narrow neck portion immediately below the hooked portions I may be held in fixed relation by spot welding the vertical portions 2 to each other, as at l5, rather than in the manner described in connection with Figures 1 and 2. In like manner, the narrow neck portion at 9 may be spot welded instead of employing the clip ill or the twisting technique described in connection with Fig. 2.

There has been described a specific embodiment of the invention but it is to be understood that the invention itself is not to be limited thereby but is contemplated to include all modifications that may fall fairly within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An article of manufacture comprising, a continuous length of wire formed to provide a garment hanger having a narrow neck portion at the upper end thereof and closed loops at its lateral extremities, a hanger supporting portion extending upwardly from said narrow neck portion and providing two upwardly diverging rows of spaced hanger-supporting elements, said elements lying in a plane substantially normal to the plane of said hanger, the said length of wire extending inwardly from the upper ends of said diverging rows and forming a central upstanding neck portion terminating in a pair of upstanding, spaced, parallel hooks, said hooks being spaced apart in a direction substantially parallel to the plane of the hanger-supporting elements.

2. A device of the class described comprising, support engaging means and spaced means carried thereby to support a plurality of garment hangers in spaced parallel relationship, said spaced means being arranged in two downwardly converging rows symmetrically arranged below said support engaging means, said support engaging means comprising a pair of space-d parallel hook elements to engage a horizontal supporting rod or the like and be supported thereby and held against horizontal rotation.

,3. A device as set forth in claim 2 wherein said hook elements face in opposite directions.

4. A device of the class described comprising, support engaging means, means carried thereby and providing a plurality of elements for supporting garment hangers, said elements being arranged in substantially a single plane and being laterally spaced from each other whereby to support a plurality of garment hangers in spaced parallel relationship, and a garment hanger attached to said second means at the lower end thereof and lying in a plane substantially normal to the plane defined by said elements, said support engaging means comprising a pair of spaced, parallel and oppositely facing hook elements, said hook elements being spaced apart in a direction substantially parallel to the plane of said spaced elements.

JOHN TUSAY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

